Online platform the future for second mortgages?

The growing popularity of second mortgages has created a scramble to find private lenders – and one online solution is attracting broker attention

“We have 220-plus brokers on board already in the system,” says Paul DeMelo, CEO of Home Ownership Solutions, a division of Fourth Street Financial Corporation based out of Mississauga, Ont., who describes this “engagement platform” as allowing brokers to avoid dialing for dollars in the second mortgage space.

“This really takes the dialing out and smooths out their day,” he told MBN. “I’ve got applications coming in the middle of the night, people are busy during the day and it is hard to catch private lenders in that window of opportunity. You can be on your phone, watching the hockey game, and submit a loan in just a few minutes.”

While DeMelo primarily conducts business in the Golden Horseshoe area of the province, he does foresee a day when this platform is expanded beyond the province, likely though a platform licensing process.

From an investment perspective, the algorithms make for a consistent portfolio approach to of loans loan management – something that property Mortgage investors will appreciate.

“The system is complex in its analytics, but very simple for the user,” he says. “Brokers have a three to five minute application process, consisting mostly of drop down menus and are given an immediate quote. As a lender, I get instant and consistent loan underwriting, and portfolio management tools. As a result the borrower gets a near immediate commitment.”

The applications are scored against the same dynamic, the same scoring system.

“All of my loan portfolios are entirely mapped according to the colour coding of risk rating and whether the loan has been refunded or repaid,” he says, “and I can take a look at a Google map and see where my gaps are, and I can then provide promotions around that.”

Using the online portal, brokers will get a response can determine, in less than five minutes, including a full rate and fee quote.

More importantly, the simple “yes,” “maybe,” and “no,” format is appreciated by brokers, especially when the answers come within minutes.